The UN chief is “aware” that the Syrian government did not directly “request” airstrikes on terrorist targets on their soil and urged all parties involved in the US-led anti-ISIS campaign to take all necessary precautions to minimize civilian casualties.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he is “aware” that
the US-led intrusion and airstrikes on Islamic State targets were
not carried out “at the direct request of the Syrian
Government,” in a statement delivered at a climate summit press
conference.

However, he noted that Damascus “was informed
beforehand” and that the strikes took place in “areas no
longer under the effective control” of the government.

“I regret the loss of any civilian lives as a result of
strikes against targets in Syria. The parties involved in this
campaign must abide by international humanitarian law and take
all necessary precautions to avoid and minimize civilian
casualties,” the UN chief added.

In a letter to the UN secretary general, US Ambassador Samantha
Power used Article 51 of the UN charter to justify air strikes
against ISIS targets in Syria, claiming that it was necessary to
protect civilians and secure Iraq's borders.

The US explained that Iraq has “made it clear” that it
faces a “serious” threat from the Islamic State
militants coming from Syria, a country which Washington says
offers “safe havens” for militants.

“These safe havens are used by ISIL (ISIS) for training,
planning, financing, and carrying out attacks across Iraqi
borders and against Iraq's people,” the letter reads.

It is because of this threat and at the request of the Iraqi
government that the US decided to lead a coalition against
Islamic State positions in Syria, “in order to end the
continuing attacks on Iraq,” to protect civilians and help
Baghdad secure state borders.

Stating that IS poses a dire threat both to the region as well as
to the security of the United States, Powers writes that Article
51 of the UN charter provides countries the right to engage in
self-defense, including collective self-defense, against an armed
attack.

“As is the case here, the government of the State where the
threat is located is unwilling or unable to prevent the use of
its territory for such attacks,” the letter, dated September
23, reads.

It argues that strikes against ISIS in Syria are justified as the
Syrian regime “cannot and will not confront these safe havens
effectively itself.”

“Accordingly, the United States has initiated necessary and
proportionate military actions in Syria in order to eliminate the
ongoing ISIL threat to Iraq.”

In addition, Washington is also conducting military action
against Al-Qaeda “elements in Syria known as the Khorasan
Group,” which it believes could be responsible for plotting
against America and its allies.

The air campaign against the Khorasan extremists was separate
from the one targeting the Islamic State group, as the US
believes they were close to carrying out “major attacks”
against the West.

“Intelligence reports indicated that the group was in the
final stages of plans to execute major attacks against Western
targets and potentially the US homeland,” announced Lt. Gen.
William Mayville, director of operations for the US Joint Chiefs
of Staff.

He specified that the group is “establishing roots in Syria
in order to advance attacks against the West and the
homeland.”

Calling the strikes “successful,” Mayville also
announced that more than 40 Tomahawk missiles were launched from
the Gulf and the Red Sea, saying “the majority of the
Tomahawk strikes were against Khorasan.”

Earlier in the day, US President Barack Obama said that he
ordered the strikes in Syria to “disrupt plotting against the
United States and our allies by seasoned al-Qaeda operatives in
Syria, who are known as the Khorasan Group”.

“Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot
against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not
tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our
people,” he added.

However, the US airstrikes will not be “effective, if there
is no coordination of actions on the ground and if no ground
military operations are carried out,” Syrian Foreign
Minister Walid Moualem told RT Arabic.

“The US is mocking the whole world when they say that they
are going to coordinate their actions not with the Syrian
government, but with the moderate Syrian opposition. This is
funny. What moderate opposition are you talking about?”
Moualem told RT Arabic. “This moderate opposition is killing
Syrians just like al-Nusra or ISIS.”

If the US “seriously wanted to fight the ISIS and other
terrorist organizations,” there would be an international
organization under the aegis of the UN, in which all countries
would participate, Moualem said.